Close To You

5

TW's:
-None

George's POV

Clay, Sapnap and I went to the clothing store and Clay looked around with a bit of a shy look on his face. Sapnap and I just walked behind him, talking about whatever as he picked out some clothes.

I knew that he didn't want pity, but I was still sorry for him. My parents tried helping him and his mum as much as they could. We made a package with necessary stuff monthly so they wouldn't completely run out of money, but it was getting harder and harder for them.

His mum didn't have the best job and worked hours and hours to pay for the house and for all Clay's stuff. My mother took Clay's mother to a restaurant every month so she could calm down a little and have a great meal while she was able to vent about everything that happened to her.

I knew Clay's dad left them before Clay was even born. His parents were quite young when his mum got pregnant, so his dad decided to be an arsehole and just leave because it got too much for him. Clay never spoke to him and didn't feel the need to either, but I knew he missed a dad in his life too. With that, I noticed him bottling things up to not put more stress on his mother.

Clay grabbed some clothes and put it in a bag as his smile got brighter with the minute. Sapnap and I just left him, but I found it pretty cute that he seemed this happy.

After we let Clay wander around for a second time through the whole store, he looked up at us and smiled. 'Thank you so much,' he muttered shyly as he started playing a bit with his fingers to calm down.

I smiled back at him. 'Did you get some stuff?'

He nodded slowly and we started walking to the cashier to pay for the stuff. After we paid for it, we left to go to another store so he could buy himself some other necessary stuff. He ended up buying some things and we left to go to a small store where they sold lunch. We let Clay buy the lunch he wanted and sat down to eat together.

Clay was pretty shy and stared at his food as I poked his fork in it. Lately he had been a bit sad about the fact that he had less money, so I wanted to make him happier. I stood up and sat next to him as I wrapped my arm around his shoulder.

Clay smiled and had his cheeks get a bit darker as he took a bite of his food.

'Are you enjoying today?' I asked him as he looked up at me.

'Do you actually like me even when I'm this poor?'

'I don't want you to question that again, Clay,' I said. 'We would actually be such shitty friends if we didn't like you because of the amount of money you have at home.'

'You also don't hate my mother, right? She really tries,' Clay muttered.

'I only hate that other asshole,' Sapnap said as he rolled his eyes. 'He's dumb for leaving a mother and a child behind. He chose to do shit with her himself, if he doesn't want a kid then he should just keep it in his pants or be safe.'

Clay giggled. 'You're such an idiot, but you're right. I've had my mom tell me like twenty times to do all those things safely and not when I'm this young. Good thing that I don't-,' Clay started, but stopped himself midway. I saw him thinking and then he shook his head. 'Don't feel the need to.'

I nodded slowly, questioning if that was really what he wanted to say at first. Though, I left it like that since he didn't seem to be willing to talk about it. Clay started eating again and so did I, smiling a little because I found Clay pretty handsome today.

Sapnap looked at me with a smile and I quickly looked down at my food, acting like it was really interesting.

We ate for another ten minutes and stood up to continue the day. We went to some other stores and Sapnap bought Clay ice cream. Clay's whole face was extremely happy and he was getting very energetic.

He was just running a bit around as he walked back to us to thank us again. 'Can I show you my clothes when we get back home?'

'Of course,' Sapnap said with a smile. 'I'll show you my things too if you want.'

To make Clay less uncomfortable, we all bought something so he wouldn't feel alone.

'I'll show you mine too,' I added. 'I'm excited to see all your new clothes, Clay.'

'Me too, I really hope you like them all. I liked them a lot.'

'If you liked them, I'm sure we will like them too. I liked your other shirts too,' I said and Clay blushed with a shy smile on his face.

'Thank you, I like your hoodies too, because it's cute and they are a bit oversized.' Clay's face heated up fully and he hid his face behind his hands. 'I didn't mean to say that, I'm sorry.'

I giggled. 'Thank you,' I said with a smile. 'I'm happy that you like them.'

'Oh my gosh, just make out already,' Sapnap said as he laughed loudly after his comment. 'You're the gayest dudes I've ever seen.'

'I'm not g-gay,' Clay whispered awkwardly.

Sapnap immediately noticed him getting very uncomfortable and placed his hand on his shoulder. 'Sorry, Clay. That was a dumb comment, I was just kidding. It's fine if you're gay and it's fine if you're straight. I'm not assuming anything, I was just kidding because George and you were flirting.'

'I uh-,' Clay muttered. 'I wasn't flirting, I uh-.'

'Let's go home, I'm excited to see your new clothes,' Sapnap quickly said as he saw Clay struggling.

Clay smiled and took a deep and relieved breath. 'I'm excited too,' he said as he sat down on the back of Sapnap's bike.

1034 words